Roland Scott Fosler

It is with great sadness that his family shares the news that Roland Scott (“Scott”) Fosler, 76, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, passed away peacefully on March 10, 2022, from metastatic melanoma. Scott was born on June 26, 1945, in Baltimore, Maryland. Scott grew up in Towson, Maryland and attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where his greatest passions were learning, basketball/lacrosse, his friends, and playing the guitar. He was the first of his family to travel abroad and studied at the Dickinson Center in Bologna, Italy, which set in motion a passion for governance and international affairs that shaped his life. Subsequently, Scott received a Masters of Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Scott was a good and honest man and a true public servant committed to the belief that proper governance is the foundation of strong communities. He was President of the National Academy of Public Administration, Vice President and Director of Government Studies for the Committee for Economic Development, and he served two terms as Councilman on the Montgomery County Council. During his 8-year tenure on the County Council, he was elected by his peers as Council Vice President, Council President, and later, in the mid-1980s, President Pro Tempore. Scott Chaired the Education, Budget and Taxation Committee, as well as the Government Management Committee and was also a member of the Committee on Health and Human Services. He was an advocate for higher teachers’ salaries, expanded special education services and economic development, including the establishment of the technology corridor in the county. He also reformed the then County Council’s own committee structure, staff operations, and information systems. Land use and growth policy were a special passion. Among his proudest achievements was his work to establish the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve and Transferable Development Rights Program, which is a nationally recognized model for conservation and has endured for over 40 years. An ardent environmentalist, he worked tirelessly to protect the Ten Mile Creek water shed and the Little Seneca Lake Reservoir, the only fresh water emergency water source in Montgomery County. He twice served as Mayor of the Town of Chevy Chase, Maryland. Both on the County Council and during his tenure as Mayor, he developed policies to link land use development and adequate public facilities, most recently in 2016 to 2018, in order to be sure that the roads, schools, water and sewage capacities and related financing methods were in place to support increases in community development. He served on a number of not-for-profit boards in recent years, including as President of the Board of Directors for the Audubon Naturalist Society, Board Member for the Montgomery Countryside Alliance, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, and the National Academy of Public Administration. Scott had a happy and fulfilling life full of friends, beloved family, and community service. He was a voracious reader and accomplished author who loved newspapers, academic journals, history and non-fiction books, especially those pertaining to the evolution of civilizations and human development. Scott was never happier than boating on the Miles River and Chesapeake Bay, taking walks, sitting quietly with his wife, sharing meals with family, and taking in a baseball game. His family affectionately referred to him as “Books on Tape,” due to his vast myriad of knowledge. Scott is survived by the love of his life and wife of 41 years, Gail (née Deschner) Fosler, his son Michael Fosler, his brother Howard (Linda) Fosler, nephews Todd (Kelly) Fosler and Jason (Elizabeth) Fosler, niece Lisa (Mark) Fosler Kelly, niece Kate (Bucky) Jacobsen, nephew Rob (Crystal) Burton, as well as his adored grandnieces and grandnephews Lauren Fosler, Marshall Fosler, Athena Fosler-Brazil, Eliana Kelly, Delaney Kelly, Michael Burton, Katherine Burton, Baron Jacobsen and Grace Jacobsen. Scott was preceded in death by his sister, Anne (née Fosler) Burton, as well as his parents, Howard and Doris (née Patton) Fosler. A service will be held on April 19, 2022, at 4:00pm, at Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ in Bethesda, Maryland, with a reception to follow. RSVP to the service and reception at [email protected] In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Audubon Naturalist Society, Friends of Ten Mile Creek and Little Seneca Reservoir, or the Montgomery Countryside Alliance. Scott will be dearly and deeply missed and we will always carry his memory in our hearts.